Page 16 - RBS – ABN takeover

RBS paid top price, 32 times historic earnings, for assets that had gone down

significantly in value since the bid's launch.

Banco Santander:

Santander takes some of ABN's most

attractive assets, including the Brazilian

division, Banco Real and the Italian division Anton Veneta. The Latin American

wholesale clients however, will be transferred to RBS, apart from Brazil.

Fortis:

Fortis was seen as the weakest link in the consortium as

questions were raised over its ability to arrange financing for its part of the deal.

Also fears over whether it would receive antitrust approval from the European

Union were voiced. Fortis responded that EU objections "related to the market

for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Netherlands," and it had

presented "remedies" that it expected would allow the deal to go through. By the

3 of October both of these queries were answered and objections removed
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thereby strengthening the consortium’s bid.

Fortis will take over ABN's retail bank in Holland (where it sponsors Ajax football

club), and its asset management and private clients worldwide. The retail bank is